Jul
12
2016

Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach, Phuket – The Perfect Family Getaway

I love traveling. Darling and I, we traveled the world before starting a family. We still love traveling now though I have to admit when we make our travel plans these days, priority is given to the kids. We will do prior research on activities suitable for the kids to partake, places of interest for the boys and most importantly, food availability for them.

That is the reason why our previous trips with the kids had been focused mainly around theme parks but we decided to do something different this time. We needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the hectic city life and decided for a beach holiday. We chose Phuket but agreed on not going island hopping as I feel Ayden is still too young for that.

An ex-classmate of mine suggested Holiday Inn Resort as she loved it there during her recent holidays with her family in Patong, Phuket. Being a member of IHG® Rewards Club, I agree to her suggestion. I googled further and discovered that there is a Holiday Inn Resort in Mai Khao and it is still new being barely 5 years old. I love new resorts and the fact that it is located only 20 minutes drive away from Phuket International Airport is a super plus point.

So I confirmed our holiday plans and here we are in Mai Khao, Phuket. I believe videos compliment a story better so I took a lot of videos during our holiday. It makes a memorable keepsake when the boys are all grown up.

Do watch the highlights of our trip to Phuket before I go into details of the activities we did here.

We were served welcome drinks and given wet towels to refresh ourselves as soon as we arrived at Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach.

Activity books were given to the boys to keep them occupied while I proceed with check-in.

This is our room – Pool Terrace Family Suite. It has 2 adjoining rooms (one for us and another for the kids) with both rooms having direct pool access.

This is our room with the door opening to the adjoining kid’s room. Our rooms are clean and spacious.

The bathroom is equally huge. We love the rain shower.

This is the kids’ room. I was asked for the gender of my kids when confirming my reservation and I told them both of my kids are boys. The outcome? We got this cheerful blue + pastel room with marine themed duvet.

sub

Do you see what I see? I see SUBMERRYN! I mean submarines! I super love their marine themed duvets that I am so tempted to smuggle them home :lol:

By the way, look at Ayden’s pillow. It is worth a mention as this is one of my favourite factor when staying in any Holiday Inn Resorts – their pillows.

The pillows in Holiday Inn Resorts come labeled with either SOFT or FIRM so you can decide wisely which to use. Both are super comfy though so no worries.

The kids room come attached with their own bathroom. There is also a game console to keep them occupied.

The bathroom in the kids’ room is super huge with a tub to soak in. Kids are really being pampered here. Bliss!

Complimentary cute toiletries for the kids includes shampoo, bubble bath, body lotion, talcum powder and a comb.

Complimentary tea and coffee for us and MILO for the kids.

Complimentary bottled drinking water are cleverly stored in the fridge in our room so that we can get cool, refreshing drink after a hot day outside.

Holiday Inn Mai Khao Family Pool Access room 10

Just take a step outside our rooms into the exclusive pool. Both the kids’ and our rooms open up to this pool. The boys swim here day and night. They don’t care if it is hot or cold, they just can’t resist the pool.

Situated next to our room is the Kid’s Club.

The Kid’s Club comes equipped with two doors of different sizes – one adult size and one kid size. How cute is that?

Huge Ball Pit

Step in and the first thing the boys noticed is the super large ball pit with colourful balls of different sizes. There is also a slide right smack in the middle of the ball pool adding more fun to it.

The boys had a ball of a time here and are always reluctant to leave.

Game Area

The boys spent considerably a lot of time here playing video games and watching movies. The club has Movie Nights for kids so they are always here after dinner to catch a movie.

Craft Area

There is also a craft area for the kids to explore and indulge in their creativity. I signed the boys up for a couple of craft activities here which I’ll feature a bit later in this post. Stay tuned.

Reading Area

This is the reading area.

The boys spend the least time here. Let’s just say reading is the last thing they want to do during a fun-filled holiday. My boys are not avid readers :-|

Outdoor Playground

Last but not least, there is an outdoor play area right outside the Kid’s Club. This playground and the Kid’s Club are both just few steps away from our room so you can imagine how hyper the boys are throughout our stay :lol:

Besides the Kid’s Club, there are many other facilities around the resort to keep guests occupied.

Table Tennis

Badminton

Volleyball

Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach Phuket giant trampoline

Giant Trampoline

Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach Phuket Dart

Dart

Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach Phuket Hammock

Hammocks

Can you spot my 3 heroes on all 3 hammocks?

swimming pool

Sea-facing infinity pool

The resort also holds a Popcorn Movie Night every Tuesday evening at the Resort Garden. It was mesmerizing to catch a movie in the open, under the stars with the sea breeze blowing gently.

All the facilities mentioned above are on complimentary basis. We do not need to pay to utilize them. However, if you are feeling adventurous and want to do more, there are many other activities available for resort guests with a minimal fee.

Discovery Bike Tour (2 hours THB 300++)

Discovering Mai Khao on bike

Discovery Bike Tour is an activity where we get to explore Mai Khao on bike with the assistance of a local guide. The excursion will lead us to rural roads of Mai Khao and ends with the breathtaking view along the beach. The picture above shows the beautiful backdrop of a pond full of flowers.

Check out this video of our cycling adventure. I did not record the entire journey as I do not have a GoPro with me. I recorded this holding my iPhone while cycling for goodness sake *Time to get a GoPro ;-) *

If you want more to cycling than just exploring nature, you can opt to cycle to the Soi Dog Foundation instead.

Discovery Soi Dog Foundation (THB 300 ++)

We decided to do something different and brought the boys to the Soi Dog Foundation. The kids got emotional seeing 3-legged and limping dogs rescued from road accidents and more.

It was an eye opening experience. The volunteers here have hearts more precious than gold.

Here’s a quick virtual tour of Soi Dog Foundation Mai Khao, Phuket.

If you don’t wish to leave the resort at all, here are some of the activities you can enjoy with the entire family.

Batik Sarong Painting (THB 700++)

Batik Sarong Painting Holiday Inn Mai Khao Phuket 1

Held near the infinity pool, we enjoyed this activity a lot. It is one of the activity that our entire family can participate in. We love taking our time painting the entire sarong batik with elephant motifs. It is also our very first time painting such a huge piece. We usually paint just a handkerchief so this really tops it all. We even get to bring our masterpiece home. I’m going to frame it and hang it in the kids’ room.

Here’s the video to our batik sarong painting:

Mocktail/Cocktail Making (THB 450 ++)

Another activity held by the infinity pool is Mocktail Making for kids. 

For us adults, we learn to mix our own Cocktail.

cocktail

Come join us for a virtual drink at the pool bar with the boys :-P

When it comes to mealtime, there are activities that allows the kids to make their own food. They can then eat their creation. I signed the boys up for pizza making, soft roll bread and also cake decorating.

Kid’s Pizza Making (THB 350 ++)

The boys get to make pizza from scratch and choose their own toppings. They get to eat their own pizzas after baking them.

That was our lunch and here is the video of the kids making their own pizza:

Design Your Fancy Soft Bread Roll (TBH 350 ++)

The boys enjoyed making and designing their own soft bread. They made several animals that ended up looking like aliens :lol:

Ayden as usual is always caught eating something while at ‘work’. :-D

Watch the boys hard at work making their own bread:

Decorate Your Own Cake (THB 350 ++)

The final food related activity I signed the boys up for is cake decorating.

This is a pretty simple activity for them as they have done this numerous times but it never fails to amuse them. My boys love baking but they never get to decorate at home so here is a chance for them to showcase their hidden talent and eat it too.

Besides the boys, I also signed the Daddy up for a Thai cooking class. It is a holiday. No way I am going to cook on a holiday so it only makes sense to let the hubby experience what we do all day – slaving in the kitchen :-P

Thai Cooking Class at Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach Phuket Thailand

He enjoyed it though. Maybe because the ingredients are all laid out in front of him and he did not need to wash the pots and pans after cooking hence he finds it EASY :roll:

We had Darling’s special Tom Yum Goong for lunch and I must say, it is very delicious!  :-P

Remember the Craft Area at Kid’s Club? The boys did 2 crafts there – Sand Candle and Thai Umbrella painting.

Sand Candle Art (THB 250 ++)

It is the boys’ first time making Sand Candles. It is pretty interesting to see them so focused in designing their candles. Ethan especially was very patient pouring layers by layers of coloured sand into the glass to create a colourful effect.

Here is the video of the boys making their Sand Candle.

Thai Umbrella Painting (THB 350 ++)

The boys also painted an umbrella which they get to bring home.

Must do in Thailand – Massage

The one thing we must do in Thailand is to get pampered and we did just that at Tea Tree Spa right in the middle of the resort. We signed up for the parent and child package so I had my spa session together with Ethan. Little Ayden is too young though so the Daddy brought him to Kid’s Club to play in his favourite ball pit.

Tea Tree Spa

Here is the video to our spa session, one of the best massages I have had todate.

Kids Stay and Eat FREE**

Kids stay and eat free here so we have all our meals in the resort.

There are 2 main restaurants here. J’s Cafe & Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner while Pesto’s is open for lunch and dinner. Pesto’s is an Italian restaurant while J’s Cafe & Restaurant ranges from local Thai food to international cuisine. J’s Cafe & Restaurant serves different themed buffet dinners every evening. We managed to try their South East Asia Buffet dinner and it was enjoyable being able to savour dishes from countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Philippines, China and also Malaysia but that will be told in a different blog post as this post is already getting extremely long.

Read about J’s Cafe & Restaurant South East Asia Buffet Dinner here – http://www.submerryn.com/2016/08/south-east-asia-buffet-dinner-js-cafe-restaurant.html

We were served complimentary breads and cheese sticks before each meal at both J’s Cafe & Restaurant and also Pesto’s.

The boys were promptly given coloring and activity sheet with crayons to keep them occupied while waiting for their food to be served. 

The above are from the Kid’s Menu which the kids are entitled to for free. The spaghetti bolognese is originally served with minced beef but the chef was nice enough to switch it to chopped chicken for us instead. As for the Fish & Chips, the fish is baked not fried, making it a healthier choice for the kids.

What is a beach holiday without coconuts right? I ordered fresh young coconuts every single day I was here :-P

We managed to try several local Thai dishes throughout our stay here. Here are some of them:

Pla Thod Kamin is deep fried fillet of seabass in yellow ginger and garlic. It is served with a plate of steamed white rice. I love this dish a lot as eventhough the fish is deep fried, it is still very much tender and moist inside.

Tom Kha Gai is a classical coconut broth with chicken and fragrant herbs served in whole coconut.

There are many curries to choose from red, yellow to green and I settled for GREEN with no regrets. This aromatic, creamy and tasty green curry is addictive. I kept wanting more. The fact that I chose to have it with pork meat is an added bonus. Double thumbs up!

We also ordered local Thai desserts and here are some of them.

Water chestnut with jack fruit in coconut milk.

Thai mango sticky rice comes with two types of glutinous rice – red and white.

Thai style coconut infused ice-cream is worth every Thai Baht paid for. Served with 8 types of condiments, we had fun sampling each and every one of them. We even mixed everything up in the end and have an ice-cream party in our mouth :lol:

Pesto’s is an Italian restaurant by the beach. It is popular not only among resort guests but also outsiders who made their way here for some good Italian food.

Pesto Italian restaurant

Food are freshly made to order so do expect some waiting time before your food is served. The food here is definitely worth the wait.

Ending our delightful dinner with ice cream dessert.

Click for the full write-up on Pesto’s:
http://www.submerryn.com/2016/07/pestos-italian-food-on-a-thailand-beach.html

We had a wonderful holiday here at Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach, Phuket. The kids are fully occupied with swimming, their favourite ball pit and the many activities we signed them up for. I am glad I chose to stay here as the staffs and facilities are all very kid friendly. We have been to many beach holidays but this is one of the few that has the entire family’s needs nicely taken care of. 

holiday inn resort maikhao beach phuket thailand contact

Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach
81 Moo3, Maikhao, Talang, Phuket 83110, Thailand
+66 76 603 699

http://phuketmaikhaobeach.holidayinnresorts.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Maikhao/
[email protected]

22 Comments + Add Comment

  • //

    Beach getaway is the best for us with young kids! This resort looks good with all those facilities and fun games.

    • //

      Yes, my kids love beaches. They can spend the entire day playing sand and water. Love that the beach here is a private one hence it is not congested.

  • //

    Ok, home already. Ask hubby to cook tom yam goong again. Must practise wor…otherwise forget, then dunno how to cook anymore.

    • //

      Sure. We were given the recipe booklet and even the apron to bring home. I will definitely get him to cook for us again over a lazy weekend :D

  • //

    Wah, Ethan also gets a massage! :O Your youtube videos are so pro! Everyone looks so happy, something for everyone. What a nice holiday.

    • //

      Thank you Mun. I’m still learning and trying to improve my video skills. It is indeed a happy vacation where there is something for each and every one of us <3

  • //

    Yeah…you are right! If I travel with my kids I will only plan what is suitable for them instead of adults. Yup, a pool is a must in the list. They can spend all day long dipping in the water.

    I have plan to bring the kids for a beach holiday too but not so soon..I am looking into Krabi or Phuket and now after seeing this place, I can keep in view for future. I love that their hotel is very child friendly

    • //

      I had so many things in mind prior to this trip. Wanted to go island hopping and also catch FantaSea but after listening to people’s experience, we concluded that Ayden is too young for island hopping and I don’t want to queue to surrender my phone and camera before the FantaSea show starts and queue again to retrieve them after the show. The little one will be extremely restless then so we had to give that a miss too.

  • //

    WOW, I love the hotel!! And the food! Will def. consider this hotel if we travel to Phuket.

    • //

      We super love this resort too. Dont mind returning should we travel to Phuket again.

  • //

    Wah Wah Wah (one Wah is not enough to express my excitement LOL), seem like this hotel is suitable for family with kid(s) and the guests can stay in the hotel the whole day! But for me I’ll still will go out for some street food hunting lah LOL

    • //

      Haha you know me. I’m not the street food hunter type. You can see that during our last Melaka trip. You all went out cari makan, I stayed put in the hotel. LoL.

  • //

    I think only married couple with kids could accept the idea of spending vacation in the hotel premises entirely. My friends here in Penang, sometimes they would check into Rasa Sayang for the weekend with their kids. It is like PJ residents checking into Hilton KL Sentral for the weekend for vacation. Blows my mind away @.@ …

    • //

      It’s not only married couple with kids will do this. Those honeymooning couples do it too. I see many lovebirds spending their own sweet time in the resort, stepping out of their room into the pool for a dip. You’ll be like them too when you find your honey :P

      Btw, I am macam your friends in Penang also. I bundled up my kids and checked into hotels in KL for a weekend getaway when we get bored @_@

  • //

    Beach holiday yay! You all look like you had fun, esp the boys! Tom Yam!!!!
    Ive been to Phuket twice but always near the Patong area, shouldve tried other spots though.

    • //

      Wow twice. You really love Phuket :D

      I fell in love with the people and culture here too. They are very gentle. I know I’ll make my way to Thailand again soon.

  • //

    Your post make me miss Thailand so much. I love Holiday Inn hotels. They are just awesome! The last time we went to Phuket, we hardly spent time in the hotel as the beach is a public one *sad* We were out almost the whole day walking around Patong.

    • //

      Exactly, I love Holiday Inn hotels hence the membership. When the little one grows bigger, I’ll consider going to Patong and enjoy the nightlife there :)

  • //

    Wow best nyer

  • //

    Wow, i would love to go there someday. So much to do.

  • //

    Hi!! Is there a bathtub in the kids’ room? The hotel told me there wasn’t any bathtub…

    • //

      There is a round tub in the bathroom as shown in my post. Maybe the hotel meant there isnt a long bath.

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MeHome is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.

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